Pure P.A.F.
The Ultimate PAF Replacement
$175 – $350
Experience what a humbucker should really sound like and get inspired by the Pure P.A.F’s beautiful tone. Lindy’s favorite humbucker, the Pure P.A.F. is a 50’s P.A.F. clone, using real Butyrate Bobbins and all USA-Made parts. Featuring a clean, clear tone with incredible versatility and dynamics and expertly crafted using 100% USA-Made materials, we guarantee the Pure P.A.F. will inspire you for years to come.
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Jump to Sound Clips and more Info:
The Ultimate In Vintage PAF Tone
Want to learn more about our Pure P.A.F.? Here's all the information you'll need:
Features
Are you ready to cut through in the mix? The Lindy Fralin-designed Pure P.A.F. is our best-selling humbucker. Based on the specifications of the original 50’s Gibson® P.A.F. pickups, this model features a clean, articulate tone that’s incredibly versatile.
The Pure P.A.F. is a lower output humbucker, which is more dynamic and expressive than higher output pickups. It’s more articulate and cleaner than our Modern P.A.F., but beefier than our P-92. Lindy’s passion for the sound of vintage 50’s humbuckers led us down the road to design and create the Pure P.A.F., and it’s easy to see why – this pickup sounds incredible.
Features:
- Our Best-Selling Humbucker – low output, vintage tone
- Original Gibson PAF® specifications: low output, with modern clarity
- Clean and clear, smooth grind and a sharp attack
- USA-made Alnico 2 Magnets for vintage tonal balance and output
- Compensated Overwound Bridge for even volume across all pickups
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built for unrivaled quality control
- 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
Sound & Video
How does it sound? Clean and articulate!
The Pure P.A.F. stays clean and features a late break-up and a smooth grind. This pickup is perfect if you’re trying to restore life to your guitar. Don’t let the term “vintage” fool you – you’ll find that it’s loud and versatile enough to play with modern-voiced pickups; it just features more clarity than modern humbuckers.
Built with USA-Made AlNicCo II and 42-gauge Plain Enamel wire, the Pure P.A.F. pickup is a gateway to instant vintage tone. When playing without distortion, you’ll find that this pickup sings what you put into it: it’s dynamic and warm. Highs are accentuated with a medium attack. With distortion, you’ll find that the grind is nice and smooth.
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. When Lindy designed this pickup, he wanted it to be as close to the originals as possible. Pure P.A.F.’s consist of USA-Made Butyrate bobbins, baseplates, magnets, and wire. We wind each pickup by hand, one at a time, using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. Doing this gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone, reminiscent of the early Gibson Humbuckers.
Finally, we assemble each pickup one at a time, by hand, which allows us to achieve unbeatable attention to detail. After assembly, we wax-pot the pickup to prevent microphonics and preserve the pickup for years to come.
Sound Samples for Pure P.A.F.:
Additional Outputs
We have 2 outputs of our Pure P.A.F.. Compare them below.
About these Sound Clips:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
Tonal Graph For Pure P.A.F.:
The tonal graph below for our Pure P.A.F. features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Attack: Soft & Round
Videos for Pure P.A.F.:
Tech Specs:
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Pure P.A.F..
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading (Stock): | 7.5K 1 |
| Bridge Ohm Reading (Stock): | 8K 1 |
| Neck Polarity: | Reversible with 3-Conductor or 4-Conductor Lead |
| Bridge Polarity: | Reversible with 3-Conductor or 4-Conductor Lead |
| Magnet: | USA-Made Alnico 2 |
| Wire: | USA-Made 42-Gauge Plain Enamel |
| Bobbin Material: | USA-Made Butyrate |
| Baseplate Material: | Nickel Silver |
| Cover Material: | Nickel Silver |
| Slug / Pole Piece Material: | Steel |
| Recommended Pot Value: | 500K* |
| Baseplate Leg Depth: | 6mm |
| Recommended Cap Value: | 0.02mfd 2 |
Additional Technical Info:
1 Ohm Readings can vary due to a multitude of factors, including ambient temperature, multimeter calibration, different wire batches, and other factors. Due to this, ohm readings are approximate. Learn more about Ohm Readings here.
2 We recommend a 0.02mfd Cap Value on most guitar and bass pickups. The exception is a Magic Cap, which Lindy prefers on the Bridge Pickup of Fender® guitars only. Learn More about Caps Here.
* You can experiment with pot values for a different tone. This pickup will sound dark and warm on 250K pots
Polarity Information:
Here's how we wind and magnetize our pickups:
This is a Hum Cancelling Pickup.
If you're buying a set from us, all pickups will work together seamlessly. If you're buying a single pickup, all you need to worry about is Coil Direction.
To ensure your pickup will work, make sure you select multiple leads (2-Conductor, 3-Conductor, or 4-Conductor if available), or the 3-Wire modification so you can reverse the coil direction, if need be.
Lead Options
See below for our Lead color codes. For help with matching to other manufacturers, check out this resource here.
Gibson Braided Lead
Gibson-Style instruments
Phase Reversible
Coil Splitting
3-Conductor Lead
Phase Reversible
Coil Splitting
4-Conductor Lead
Phase Reversible
Series Parallel Wiring
Coil Splitting
Covered Humbucker
Uncovered Humbucker
Featured Artists
These artists trust their tone to our Pure P.A.F.
Ben PlattInikoBig Stuff
"Fralin has absolutely breathed new life into every guitar I own. These are some of the most dynamic and reliable pickups I have played and will continue to be a part of my sound for years to come."
Great Southern ReunionLee Roy ParnellSkydog
“The first time I ever tried Fralin pickups, it was as if somebody removed a heavy blanket from in front of my amp. I could hear all the detail and articulation that I had been missing before; like hearing my guitar in Hi-Def. Amazing. Fralin pickups have had a permanent place in my tone arsenal ever since. Thanks Lindy!"
Moga Family Band
"I am always in search of quality. So glad that I found Fralin. Their attention to detail and quality is something that makes you feel confident and proud to have in your guitar. The sonic difference is obvious"
Get It Prewired
Get our Pure P.A.F. prewired into a Prewired Pickguard!:
Featured Reviews
Reviews We Worked Hard For, and Are Proud Of
Customer Reviews
257 Genuine Reviews for Pure P.A.F.
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The Pure PAF is exactly what I was looking for. This pickup turned my guitar into a magic guitar. One of those rare guitars, I’ve only played a couple in my life, never owned one, one of those rare guitars that sounds good no matter what I play. I never feel like I’m fighting to get the tone I want. It’s just there. Way to go Lindy Fralin and crew!!!
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Thank you for taking care of my pickup! I’m the guy who’s new pickup got lost in the mail. At first, the shipping company was going to reimburse me for the pickup, but a day or to went by and they found it. It took a long to time to get to me, but it was well worth the wait. I love it. The pickup plays just as the reviews said. It has a clear, clean sound, yet it is very responsive. I get a lot of compliments on it. But, because of the shipping situation, It was also about the Fralin team. They took good care of me. Thank you. I’ll be back for more.
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I replaced the pickups in a 2007 high-end Gibson “reissue” with these and…boom! I liked playing that guitar a lot before. Now, I can’t put it down!
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Put in my Murphy Lab 64 SG. Had to dial them in like any other pu, but when dialed in, WOW.
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These pick ups are magical! They sound very musical yet they get dirty nice and smoothly without any harshness. I was nervous that my reaction would be, Ho hum I guess they sound good. No way, these are head and shoulders above the pick ups that came in my Gibson Explorer. They were also very helpful with my wiring question.
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One set of Lindy’s and you are hooked. These PAFs were my fifth set. Sometimes I feel like I’m getting another guitar just to put Lindy’s pickups in it 🙂
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Wonderful PAF pickups for Les Paul. Fantastic !!
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Absolutely fantastic. This is my third set of Fralins, and I’m hooked. The PAF has very nice dynamic range, and yet feels like a bit of compression (I know! That is a contradiction!). The tone on clean is amazing and I love the attack on crunch. Great pickups.
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wonderful clear sound and yet so powerful! I love this pickups. Looks and sounds great! Here you‘ll find a picture of this nice guys:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CdWmbJfs50d/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= -
Lindy’s pickups are an addiction. Once you’ve experienced them, it’s impossible to be satisfied with most other pickups.
In this case, I had Pure PAFs – 7.8/8.2 in black chrome installed on a pelham blue Gibson Midtown. As anticipated, it’s the perfect pairing of a gibson semi-hollow and the Pure PAF. Noiseless. Absolutely Sings and plays incredibly well with my pedal board – Mini Volume -> Boss OD -> JHS Screamer -> Timmy OD -> Strymon Flint -> ricochet -> boss synth -> flashback II.
Highly recommended for semi-hollows! Fantastic customer service & consultation.
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These Fralin Pure PAFS are by far the best pickups I’ve ever played. They have an unmatched clarity and dynamics to any other humbucker I’ve tried. They are bright without being brittle and when you dig in on the neck they are warm but never muddy even with a lot of gain. I’ve never heard my amp sound as full and dynamic as these pickups sound through it. If you’re looking for “THE” PAF sound, you cannot go wrong with Fralins.
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Great tone and clarity
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I haven’t actually replaced the pickups yet. Have to hard wire the guitar. Life sometimes gets in the way. But I have the pure PAFs I love them and that was the reason I ordered these. I also have some bass P/u’s and Tele Sets. I don’t get to do builds or mods as much as i like but your pickups are the ones i use. They are the music to my ears.
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Once again, I’m completely blown away from the tone on my new Lindy Fralin pickup. This time I purchased a Pure PAF for an archtop guitar. It sounds amazing, and exactly what I was hoping for. I’ve purchased a few different Fralin pickups and they are all fantastic. Thanks again for the great pickups!!!
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We have just installed Pure PAF on our new Alchemy model – and once again Fralin Pickups have proved their class. The dynamic range, sustain, beautiful, pure timbre … The set is perfectly balanced. This is our number one choice!
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OK: In my last review I was happy about the swift delivery and great customer service. Now I have installed and played these awsome pickups. They have the perfect tone that I have seeking. I owned a 59 Gibson Reissue that came close to the sound Dwayne Allman had…but these pickups are the exact tone I have been looking for. I built a $200 Kit Guitar as an experiment. It’s not the brand of guitar that makes the biggest difference, it’s the pickups for certain!
Michael Near
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Lindy took almost an hour discussing different variations of tone that he seeks to provide in his pickups. He listened to what I want in a guitar and made suggestions on what it might take to get there. I finally settled on the PAF’s with low output neck and medium output bridge. I’ll be wiring them with Emerson oil & paper capacitors in the same manner as a 59 Les Paul. I’ll report back after I’ve played them a while.
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I had a great experience with Linday, his wife and the rest of the crew. I called a few times talking about the order and had questions on the control plate options I was also ordering. I received great advice and was definitely in good hands.
I have the Pure PAF neck in a Telecaster matched with the High Output Tele bridge and 500k pots. To me, the Pure PAF really shines playing with just a touch of breakup. You can get such great tones out of this and it’s very responsive.
Both are amazing pickups and with the great customer service, you guys have a customer for life.
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After consulting on the phone with Lindy, I ordered this for the bridge position of a 2010 Gibson RD-Standard. With the tone rolled off a bit, through an Xotic RC Booster into a clean Roland JC-40, it’s one of the best slightly overdriven electric guitar sounds I’ve ever heard! Tight and sustaining, with just the right amount of rudeness. I had heard that the original ’50s PAF’s were actually pretty bright and articulate, and now I see what they were talking about. But it’s still smooth and full. Love it.
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Absolutely wonderful! Warm, clear and authentic!
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